I'll be flying with them in April because I have heard great things about them. I was scheduled to fly LAX-MKE-DCA in one day, but due to a schedule change my MKE-DCA flight is no longer operating, and I can't make the trip in one day. So now I have to fly LAX-MKE a day earlier, spend the night in Milwaukee, and then fly MKE-DCA. I was supposed to have an MD-88 and a DC-9-30, but now I will have two MD-88s. Just minor disappointments. I am still looking forward to flying with them, however.

Does anyone know when they dropped their DCA-Omaha and Omaha-Newark flights? A friend of mine told me it was prior to 9-11. Yet he doesnt know when, i dont think that is correct. Also what about Omaha-LAX?
When was that eliminated. Thanks for any info.

Couple things. First: the DCA/OMA route was slashed because they couldn't fly to DCA til 10/26. Then, the government would only allow them to fly the DCA/MKE and MCI/DCA routes. OMA should be in the next round of flights allowed into DCA (and DSM.) OMA/EWR and OMA/LAX were slashed due to 9/11. OMA/LAX will probably not come back as it has always been unprofitable. OMA/EWR may come back as soon as business travel rebounds.

Second: Meal presentation and size have changed. This was a huge thing for YX. The entrees are the same, just a little smaller. To save costs, they changed to roundtrip catering from MKE MCI and OMA. This means they had to cut the food trays in half to fit a roundtrips worth of flights into the galley. This was done to try to save costs and is only temporary.

Boeing757fan: LOL! CUN and LGW! Good one!
The ERJ program has slid 6 months or so to about 10/02 and the 717 thing...not sure. If they get the brand new ones, that has slid as well about 6 months...8/03 or so, but if AA gives back the TWA 717s and Boeing offers them to YX cheap, things could move a lot faster, but who knows. Remember, their DC9s are paid for and since they are not making money right now, why would they want to buy the 717s?

L1011: That MKE/DCA flight will most likely be an MD81/82, not an MD88. YX only has 2 88s and they fly long haul LAX, LAS, SFO, and PHX only. Call back and make sure that connection flight hasn't been reinstated.

MEPDC9, you are not alone(kickass Micheal Jackson song btw, uhh heh joke).

I fly YX religiously from BOS to MKE. There is no other way to fly. This meal thing though has me a bit worried. I was pissed off enough already when I found out they got rid of the glass salt+pepper shakers in favor of plastic ones they can just throw away. I guess washing the little glass ones was too costly.

In other news, their fares are way cheap, well some routes anyway. BOS-MKE is cheap, however BDL-MKE is very expensive, and on a 328JET. I might venture down to BDL for my next flight to fly one of the 328JETs but $347 is way more expensive than $180 and a trek to get to BDL anyway.

I definitely agree with you guys--YX is AWESOME!
I was wondering what Skyway is doing about their RJ's. Some people were mentioning them getting ERJ's (which makes sense given a lot of negative things I've heard about their 328's), but then I also read recently that they were ordering more of the 328's. Can anyone clear this up for me?
Thanks a lot!
Ryan

YX is getting 4 more 328s beacuse they love them, and so do the pax. They need more planes in the 32 seat segment. The smallest ERJ will hold 44 pax, I think, which is two big for them right now. Jared, trust me, the salt and pepper shaker thing was a good switch. The glass ones would clog all the time if they had not been dried completly. Pain in the butt!

I didn't think they would do away with the meal service. They are legendary for that. If they did away with the meal service, there would be little reason other than the seats to choose them at the fares they charge.

IMO their big mistake was to ever allocate resources from MKE to OMA and MCI. With the money they put into MCI and OMA, they should have just build additional terminal space at MKE to solidify their presence there and increase the number of daily banks there.

I doubt MCI will pan out and all of this has left them in a tough financial situation.

The shame is, OMA will be breaking ground on an additional terminal in 2002 with 15-20 extra gates, which before 9/11 was rumored to be mainly because of YX and them wanting to substantially beef up operations @ OMA. Go figure... Are they still keeping a DC-9 pilot base there or are they going to move that as well?

Will be interesting to see how the 328JET and ERJ-140 will compete against each other. Skyway Airlines is the only carrier to have both types on order/in service. And what will happen if Boeing cancels the B717? Then Midwest will have to look for another plane. Don´t they?

Midwest removed their pilot base from OMA when they stopped using it as it's #2 hub. A captain for YX who is a friend of mine and is living in OMA is going to try to commute to Milwalkee, but he says it sucks.

Where did you here about the new terminal @ OMA, I live there and that talk has been dead for a while. Walk around inside the airport and tell me where all the people are.

The only logical replacement for that business niche would be Midwest Express. However now is not the time for significant capital investment. If I were running the company, I would concentrate on what made it such a wonderful company to begin with. Clean, reliable, and with a touch of service no other airline can compete with. Focus on the existing markets and strengthen the MKE hub. Let Skyway test new waters with the RJ's and then tap the successful markets as they come. I love Midex. I wish them well.

Boeing is going to honor the 717 contract with YX, which calls for 20 firm orders and 30 options. The LAX-OMA flights were axed due to poor passenger loads from what I heard. I do not know if they will start LAX-MCI flights nonstop, but if they do, they should not have any problems filling their planes because Southwest and Vanguard LAX flights are full from MCI. I have flown YX to MKE, DCA, MSY, and SAT, and they have all been great flights. I am looking forward to flying to ATL with them and probably LAX as well.

As far as I know, the new terminal plans are still going ahead. I had a friend that worked at the Omaha Airport Authority, but the last I heard anything was 6 months ago. I know longer fly the DEN-OMA route, but I thought I saw them doing some kind of work where the terminal is supposed to be built the last time I was, along with the new parallel runway and cargo aprons.

I don't know, I suppose the 9/11 passenger # decline could effect the outcome of this project, but I doubt it. A terminal expansion is usually for projected future passenger numbers, which OMA's grows at a very steady rate. Prior to 9/11 I am pretty sure OMA was operating pretty close to capacity, but I could be wrong.

25 Dash 80
: The construction at OMA is to lengthen the GA runway and build a new field maintenance facility. They haven't quite reached capacity and I don't fores

26 TT737FO
: I commuted from Kansas City to Omaha when I picked up a regular line. Closing OMA had been rumored for quite some time when the economy took a dip--pr

27 Jettblasterp
: Ironchain15: Boeing will have to fullfill the firm 20 but I am pretty sure they don't have to honor the 30 options. Rumor is, though, AA will be retur